Video Poker Rules & Game Play

Video poker as the name suggests is an arcade or online version of poker. In the land based casinos, players are provided with game consoles which are quite similar to the slot machine games. Video poker came into existence during the 70s when arcade games were considered state of the art gaming devices. Even today lots of players opt for playing video poker rather than participating in the real game.

The rising popularity of video poker can be attributed to the fact that this game is designed for the player who like to play games which require skill, have a low edge and provides a chance to win big. Video poker is perfect for the people who like to play alone and does not want to go through the rigors of competing against other players. This version of poker provides complete anonymity as well as an ability to play at your own pace.

Video Poker Variants

There are different types of video poker variants available for the players. Each variant comes with its own sets of rules guiding the game. The most popular variants of video poker include the following

Jacks or Better

Bally’s All American

Tens or Better

Joker’s Wild

Deuces Wild

While opting for any of these variants it is recommended that the player should go through the basic poker rules to understand the outcome of the game. All of these games follow the basic principles of the poker and standard “table poker hands” are used to determine the payout.

Game Play of Video Poker

As mentioned above all the variants have their own set of rules. The basic game play of video poker involves that a player is dealt with five cards. He or she then decides which cards to keep and the ones to discard. The cards to be kept are selected by tapping the corresponding pictures on the screen. The player then hit the “Draw” button which allows the replacement of the discarded cards. A player is declared as a winner if he or she winds up with a traditional poker hand such as flush, straight, two pair and others. The payout depends upon the pay table provided on the machine. The payout also depends upon the number of coins used for the bet. Usually all of the video poker consoles have a minimum of one and maximum of five coins limit.

Video Poker Rules

Even though there are many variants of video poker which are currently available for the players, but majority of these follow the basic rules and principles. These rules include the following

All of these variants use standard poker hands to determine the payout.

Five cards are dealt to the player.

Player is allowed to hold or discard any or all of the cards.

All the discarded cards get replaced during the draw.

After the draw if the player’s hand matches any of the qualifying poker hands given on pay table, he or she gets the corresponding payout.

For specific rules associated with any particular variant, players are advised to go through the terms and conditions provided with each game.